After a short break on the Rocky Coast of Maine and a rather disconcerting encounter with the dreaded Blue Screen of Death, we came back to find regulations unknown to us were waiting to remove a portion of our collective buttocks without properly filed documentation.

It was one of those things where everything in real time was done correctly but the documents proving that to the future were stuffed in a drawer, left open on a laptop’s desktop and not filed or were sitting in a briefcase in the trunk of car.

IOW, no big deal but the skills of an experienced file clerk were needed. That and a good, and scheduled, back-up program. The second digital issue was fixed immediately.

The surprise was that none of had every really done any filing. We lived in our laptops and Blackberrys. A chart was drawn i.e.: get file cabinet, find room for it, get the proper size hanging green things and properly colored folders.

Once the receptacle was in place the next step was collection. It took only one very long meeting for everyone to figure out who had what and how to bring it all to one place.

The services of UPS and Federal Express were needed as well as a FAX machine. There’s another blast from the past. We weren’t sure there was a FAX machine until we noticed it was a feature in the mega-wattage printer in the backroom where no-one goes.

The collective angst was soon abated when all the pods were in place and a plan created to prevent its reoccurrence. Part of the humor here is no one is probably every going to look at these files now they’re in place. However, the law of chance says, if they weren’t there, someone would ask about it tomorrow.

Believe it.

As an aside, my constant use of Evernote made my portion of this adventure much easier. I didn’t need the FAX or the overnight couriers. I brought up the program, signed in and, presto-change-o, there were all the files I needed. A quick connection to a color printer and I was sitting pretty. -30-